Luxury flat testers enjoy the good life in China

How would you like to live in a rent-free luxury flat and get paid for it?

In China, there’s a new profession that offers just that, and it’s no wonder people are jostling with each other for such a job.

Gao Qinmei, a 24-year-old employee at a real estate company in eastern China’s Shandong province, said she took up the new challenge at the beginning of this year, as she was lured by the flexible work schedule the innovative post offers, China News Service reports.

Basically, what she does is keep a journal of her daily experience of living in a luxury flat, and prospective buyers read her report before deciding whether to buy the property or not.

Her observations and recommendations also prove useful to property developers and housing development managers who study them to improve their products and services.

“I’ll be making notes on everything, from the layout of residential units, the quality of the environment at the project, the service standards of the property manager, facilities, and even the neighbors,” Gao said.

“I can work at my own pace and there is not a great deal of work involved.”

Gao dismissed market rumors that a luxury flat tester makes as much as 100,000 yuan (US$15,000) a month, but said a monthly take above 20,000 yuan is easily achievable.

“There is a completion bonus of 5,000 yuan for each project, as well as performance bonuses for meeting certain sales targets, on top of my base salary,” she explained.

Gao said her employer insists that her findings should not be written like a formal report, but suggests a more personal and friendly tone to sustain the interest of target readers.

Creativity is also important. For example, she uses the stairs to measure the time it takes to go from the top floor to the lobby and compares it with the time spent on a lift ride.

She also takes a walk at the basement carpark in order to see if there are bottlenecks when residents get in and out of the area, as such a situation could prove a source of irritation and inconvenience for her affluent clients.

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